Iowa-Penn State ranked atop NWCA Division I Coaches Poll heading into Friday showdown in Iowa City
Manheim, Pennsylvania – With the release of Tuesday’s NWCA Division I Coaches Poll, it’s set that there will be a 1 vs. 2 matchup as No. 1 Iowa will host No. 2 Penn State on Friday, January 31 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. According to Iowa Sports Information Director Chris Brewer, it’ll be just the second time in the history that the storied programs will met in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. The only other dual with the two teams ranked atop the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll came on January 5, 1986, a 35-5 win by the Hawkeyes.
There was plenty of movement inside the Top 25 this week. North Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech was one of the highlighted upsets and the 23-10 win over the Hokies vaulted the Tar Heels into the Top 10 for the first time since 1995. Coleman Scott’s team comes in eighth this week, the highest the program’s been ranked since March 6, 1995. It also marks the first time in Atlantic Coast Conference history that four teams (NC State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Pittsburgh) are ranked in the Top 10.
Iowa and NC State are the last of the unbeaten dual teams in Division I. NC State stopped Virginia over the weekend to improve to 11-0, while Iowa beat then-No. 4 Ohio State 24-10 in Carver-Hawkeye to improve to 8-0. Northern Iowa’s first win over Oklahoma State since 1991 moved the Panthers up five spots to No. 15, while Campbell improved to 6-2 and moved into the Top 20 for the first time in school history. The Camels are ranked 19th, tied with Army West Point.
Ranked Duals This Week: There’s nine duals between ranked teams this week with four of them coming Friday night and five total coming in the Big Ten Conference. On Friday, we’ll see No. 14 Minnesota at No. 13 Purdue and No. 2 Penn State at No. 1 Iowa. In the EIWA, No. 19 Army West Point will face No. 12 Lehigh in West Orange, New Jersey. No. 22 Stanford will also face No. 5 Arizona State in the Pac-12. On Saturday, No. 25 Michigan faces No. 23 Rutgers in Madison Square Garden in New York City while No. 4 NC State will head to No. 10 Pittsburgh in a Top 10 ACC showdown. On Sunday, No. 3 Ohio State heads west again to face No. 6 Nebraska, No. 24 Missouri takes on No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Wisconsin will go on the road to face No. 13 Purdue.
Methodology: The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by two coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Each first-place vote is worth 25 points, 24 points for a second-place vote, 23 for a third-place vote and so on through to one point for a 25th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results.
NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll
January 28, 2020
| Rank | Team (First) | Record | Points | Conf. | Previous |
| 1 | Iowa (14) | (8-0) | 350 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2 | Penn State | (7-1) | 333 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 3 | Ohio State | (8-2) | 319 | Big Ten | 4 |
| 4 | NC State | (11-0) | 312 | ACC | 5 |
| 5 | Arizona State | (9-1) | 292 | Pac-12 | 6 |
| 6 | Nebraska | (6-3) | 268 | Big Ten | 7 |
| 7 | Virginia Tech | (8-1) | 262 | ACC | 3 |
| 8 | North Carolina | (9-1) | 248 | ACC | 12 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | (8-3) | 236 | Big Ten | 9 |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | (7-2) | 222 | ACC | 10 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | (8-2) | 201 | Big 12 | 8 |
| 12 | Lehigh | (8-3) | 199 | EIWA | 11 |
| 13 | Purdue | (11-2) | 182 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 14 | Minnesota | (7-5) | 166 | Big Ten | 14 |
| 15 | Northern Iowa | (5-3) | 152 | Big 12 | 20 |
| 16 | Princeton | (2-4) | 118 | EIWA | 17 |
| 17 | Cornell | (8-5) | 111 | EIWA | 18 |
| 18 | Iowa State | (5-4) | 103 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 19 (tie) | Army West Point | (8-2) | 89 | EIWA | 19 |
| 19 (tie) | Campbell | (6-2) | 89 | SoCon | 21 |
| 21 | Northwestern | (3-4) | 86 | Big Ten | 15 |
| 22 | Stanford | (8-1) | 63 | Pac-12 | 22 (tie) |
| 23 | Rutgers | (8-4) | 54 | Big Ten | 22 (tie) |
| 24 | Missouri | (10-5) | 37 | MAC | 24 |
| 25 | Michigan | (5-3) | 26 | Big Ten | 25 (tie) |
Others Receiving Votes: Rider 19, Illinois 9, Appalachian State 4
Dropped Out: No. 25 (tie) Rider
2019-20 Coaches Poll Release Dates
Poll #12 2/4/20 Poll #13 2/11/20
Poll #14 2/18/20 Poll #15 2/25/20
Questions related to historical polls can be sent to Jason Bryant at jason@bryantwrestling.com
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